This invention relates generally to alkaline drinking water, and more specifically concerns a process for producing an improved alkaline drinking water using electrolysis, as well as the product produced by the process.
Alkaline drinking water, for the purposes of this explanation, is water having a pH above 9.0, although water with a pH above 7.0 is by general definition alkaline. Alkaline drinking water is usually produced by electrolysis of potable source water, which results in separate alkaline and acidic (pH below 7.0) streams of water. Alkaline drinking water can be produced, alternatively, by adding alkaline minerals to potable source water, such as tap water.
Alkaline drinking water is known to have certain health benefits, including antioxidant properties. This has been demonstrated by a number of laboratory studies, including a study by Shirahata et al, entitled xe2x80x9cElectrolyzed-Reduced Water Scavenges Active Oxygen Species and Protects DNA from Oxidative Damagexe2x80x9d, Biochem. Biophys. Res.Commun., 234, Pages 269-274 (1997). Other studies have confirmed such findings of antioxidant properties and other health benefits of alkaline water.
There have been various attempts to enhance the effect of alkaline drinking water, including the addition thereto of particular vitamins, such as Vitamin C. In one case, Vitamin C was added to electrolyzed alkaline water (alkaline water produced by electrolysis), with the resulting solution again electrolyzed. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,027 to Nakamura. In other cases, various minerals have been added to ordinary tap water, with the resulting mineralized tap water then being electrolyzed to produce alkaline drinking water.
Apart from drinking water, electrolyzed alkaline water has also been used for certain cleaning applications, particularly in the manufacture of semiconductors, including semiconductor etching, and in certain medical treatment applications. Such applications involving alkaline water are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,779 and 5,938,915, among others. The present invention, however, is directed toward specific improvements in alkaline drinking water by the use of a specific sequence of processing steps, beginning with a source of potable water, such as tap water.
Accordingly, the present invention is a process for producing improved alkaline drinking water, which comprises the steps of: filtering potable water from a source thereof so as to remove particles greater than a preselected size; directing the filtered source water through a water purification unit so as to produce purified water with a total dissolved solids no greater than ten ppm; adding selected alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a selected mineral concentration of between 20-200 ppm; and electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range 9-10, wherein total dissolved solids of the alkaline water are within the range of 20-240 ppm and the alkalinity of the alkaline water is within the range of 12-216 ppm.
The invention also includes the product produced by the above process, and also an proved alkaline drinking water product which comprises potable water which has been filtered and purified, with a total dissolved solids of less and then with the resulting total dissolved solids of less than ten ppm, to which is subsequently added selected alkaline minerals, and then electrolyzed so as to produce alkaline water having a pH in the range of 9-10 with a total dissolved solids of 20-240 ppm and alkalinity of 12-216 ppm.
The invention also includes a system for producing improved alkaline drinking water, which comprises: a water filter for filtering potable source water which is applied thereto so as to remove particles greater than a preselected size; a water purification unit for producing purified water from the filtered water, with total dissolved solids no greater than 10 ppm; means for adding selected alkaline minerals to the purified water so that the resulting mineralized water has a selected mineral concentration of between 20-200 ppm and an electrolyte cell assembly for electrolyzing the mineralized water to produce alkaline water with a pH in the range of 9-10, wherein total dissolved solids of the alkaline water are within the range of 20-240 ppm and alkalinity is within the range of 12-216 ppm.